Yesterday I met Pak. I met him at the Beers & Blogs annual meeting held in Madrid. This Beers & Blogs was somehow special –it was the first one after holidays, and I had the chance to see the face of many bloggers and Twitter users who gathered there.

Pak is a very peculiar guy, who is participating at the A Sabbatical Year in Rioja contest. I believe the idea currently being developed by the Rioja Appellation of Origin is original, attractive and interesting. And when you get all these three factors together in Social Media, your chances to reach success are pretty high. In this year’s edition, there are 15 guys competing to become the winner of the “A Sabbatical Year in Rioja” contest. What is this contest all about? Check this website to find out.

If all 15 show the same passion and interest Pak does, the name of Rioja will be in the mouth of every person going out for a glass of wine in every city of Spain.

Congratulations to the Rioja people and their agency, (Contrapunto Barcelona) on this initiative. This is real Social Media, and a clear demonstration of what Social Media can do in combination with face-to-face meetings. Only those reaching balance between both spheres manage to gain success –and this contest is a perfect example.

And there was Pak, in a bloggers meeting, with his laptop, inviting all people in the room to log in and vote for him.

Pak is a very funny and convincing guy. He is now in the sixth position of the ranking –only five of them will make their way to the final. I don’t know the rest of participants, but my vote today is for Pak. Why him? Because face-to-face meetings are also important.

Use this link to vote for him.

Good luck, Pak

PS: I just met Sara –I wish you good luck too.

This post in Spanish: Hoy voto por Pak Muñoz en el concurso “Un Año Sabático en la Rioja”

One of the main objections Wineries tend to comment on the use of the Internet is its inability to transmit emotions.

Being able to communicate emotions is a basic factor in the wine sphere, and all great current communicators in this sector are especially good at this. Bearing in mind Wineries believe emotions are not communicated, how much are interested could they be in using this tool?

Generally speaking, Internet is still a very cold communication tool. However, this definition may be more applied to web pages, where designs and contents are aimed at a more general visitor rather than to a specific one.

All this is changing with Social Media, as we contact individuals who show and identify emotions. And such emotions are more similar to the ones shared while paying physical visits to Wineries.

In fact, goods results are proven to be linked to the combination of both spheres –physical and virtual. It is all about taking advantage of the good aspects of both worlds.

I would like to talk about Handel’s Hallelujah. How many times have we heard this piece? We have listened to it so many times that it has lost its ability to catch our attention. Even though, we still like it.

This summer I had the chance to buy and read a wonderful book by Stefan Zweig, “Decisive Moments in History”. One of these great moments includes Zweig’s words on the Resurrection of George Friedrick Handel. While reading that chapter –about 30 pages– I decided to play the Hallelujah. The experience was so gratifying and touching that I had to stop more than once. The piece seemed to me much more superb after reading the story wonderfully written by Zweig. Most likely, this post will make this author sells more and more books, and it would be great as his words are simply magnificent.

I got this text from a blog about him, so you may repeat my experience.

Before start reading, I would recommend you to play the video and listen to the music. (Start reading when the music is played).

“Tear darkened Handel’s eyes. Great was the devotion oppressing him, and there were still pages to be read –the third part of the oratory. But after that “Alleluia, Alleluia!” we was not able to carry on. Such vocal joy filled him, it tensed him and expanded, and hurt like liquid fire wanting to flow till overflowing. It rushed, and oppressed, trying to find its way out. It wanted to climb and go back to heaven. Handel rushed to his pen and wrote several notes. One after the other, signs became real magically fast. He could not stop, just like a boat with its sail pushed with the tempest navigates forward, and forward. Around him, the night remained silent, and a humid darkness covered the great town. But light flew inside him as a torrent. And imperceptibly the music of Universe was echoing inside the room”.

Aren’t Zweig’s words emotive? Doesn’t it make the experience much more gratifying?

Writing the way Zweig does is not easy. I would say it is almost impossible, but I have met communicators in the world of wine who have been able to touch me in the same way Zweig did. Meanwhile, many Wineries exclusively focus on the aspects Wine Guides require from them.

Why don’t we just tell these marvelous stories we know? Why don’t we just communicate our emotions through the Internet? Why don’t we just make a difference in the best possible way?

Source of image: frangopeixe.blogspot.com

This post in Spanish: ¿Internet no transmite emociones? El Aleluya de Handel

]]> http://www.vendervino.com/en/%c2%bfinternet-no-transmite-emociones-el-aleluya-de-haendel/feed/ 1 http://www.vendervino.com/en/corres-bien-pero-fuera-del-camino-%c2%bfla-estrategia-dicta-la-tactica-o-es-al-reves/ http://www.vendervino.com/en/corres-bien-pero-fuera-del-camino-%c2%bfla-estrategia-dicta-la-tactica-o-es-al-reves/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:00:12 +0000 igsegma http://www.vendervino.com/?p=1789

Some time ago I wrote about Ries and Trout. These two authors are really fascinating to me. I have read very much about them and I had the chance to meet Jack Trout in person in a conference he gave for Philip Morris Spain I attended four years ago.

 They both wrote several best-selling books back in the eighties and early nineties. I though their stories were tremendously interesting. However, after some years have passed by, I take a look back and realize that their theories are still alive with the birth of the Internet. I am now referring to their book “Bottom Up Marketing” Tactics Dictate Strategy. The title tells you everything. How much can we anticipate from our intentions without being them previously compared to reality? How much can we predict bearing in mind things change everyday? All this in a world where uncertainty grows everyday, every thing is new and everything is still to be tested. There is no other solution than being close to market and use the try-and-fail technique (tactic) in order to review our plan (strategy).

“You run well, but outside of the path”. I heard these words from politician Manuel Fraga when talking to one of his political adversaries. After some researching, I found out the author of this sentence was Saint Augustine –Bene curris, sed extra viam. It is important to stop and think about where are we heading to and how to tackle every situation. But how can we handle all that in such a changing world?

 It is impossible for us to forecast the right path, we may only come up with a general idea of towards we want to go. And it is a good idea to write it on a piece of paper so we do not miss our goal. Achieving this represents a great leap. We are talking about being precise when defining our strategy and set it in motion. Such idea must be periodically reviewed and modified if required. The Internet and Social Media allow us to spread our idea and contrast it in an easier and cheaper way in order to find trip companions (evangelizers) supporting us or, on the contrary, detractors suggesting to change our path or even change our ideas. There is a wonderful book by Seth Godin telling us abandoning an unsuccessful idea is not a failure. We only fail when we focus all our efforts on an idea that does not work (The Dip).

There is also an Arab proverb saying “If a man tells you look like a camel, do not pay attention to his words; if two men tell you so, then see yourself at a mirror”.

Internet and Social Media make possible that not only two people but also many more help you to push or destroy your ideas.

 I have heard many times that ideas are not very valuable –what is really important is the ability to implement them. And I believe this is true day after day. Only those ideas implemented are valuable, and they will change so much that they will probably have nothing to do with the original concept.  

Do you have an idea? Implement it, tell it, improve it and fight for it. Don’t feel like doing so? Then just forget about it.

Related posts:
Making decisions in Uncertain Times
Howard Hughes was a New Technology Guru

This post in Spanish: Corres bien, pero fuera del camino. ¿La estrategia dicta la táctica o es al revés?

As many other Spaniards, I am indeed a great fan of Rafael Nadal. A couple of days ago I read a survey published in El Mundo’s Magacine (Magacine) revealing Nadal was the most admired man in Spain in 2010. This did not happen in 2008 or in 2009. I guess many admire him nowadays for the same reason I do.

The idea the general public had about Nadal was that it had been easy for him to reach the top. Every time I read in the newspaper he had won a tournament, I used to say to myself, “that’s normal, he always wins”. Sometimes I even got upset when he was heading towards a fifth set –it seemed everything was pre-arranged. Then I understood that the one going a set down gets all the strength he needs from that situation –a situation that gives him the push to try to reach the victory. When I saw him live, I realized that he really had to make a great effort in key points. The fifth set represented the moment of truth had arrived, and only the best and the ones believing in themselves are victorious. And Nadal is one of those, because he is the number one in the world.

But then family and knee problems came up, and he started to lose, defeat after defeat. Media told us everything and we were all suffering with him. We could really feel he was going through tough times. I am very interested in the sentences top sport players usually say at the end of a game, because I consider them to be a real engine for motivation and I think they teach a lot through their victories. 

And I like what Nadal says. In January 2010, after being defeated in his umpteenth match against a top-ten player in his third or fourth final of the season 2009-2010, he said, “I need to play more finals like this”. This really touched me. I could then see what was his most positive attitude after losing another final. Nadal showed he was willing to learn from his mistakes, and I felt Nadal was close to be what he had to be. Meanwhile, Federer was winning absolutely everything and beating all records in his way to become the best tennis player ever. It is important to remember that, up to date, Federer is indeed the best tennis player ever.

I have bad news for you, Federer. Rafa is back, and now it’s time for you to cry again.

Nadal won Roland Garros and Wimbledon. And it is now –not two or three years ago– that Nadal is the most admired man in Spain. Now we know he is the number one, and we know how hard it has been getting there.

We admire the best. But we admire much more those who unceasingly work everyday to become the best. There is always a person who practices a lot behind every top sportsman or woman. I don’t think sportspeople become legends just in the finals. This is just the consequence of their daily efforts and work.

We know much about Nadal and we know how hard it has been for him to reach the top. What about your wines and wineries? I know your wines have 90 and 92 points according to Parker, and 92 and 93 according to Peñín, but… what other finals have you played? How many of them have you won and how many have you lost? What are your achievements so far and the obstacles you have overcome? How long has it taken you to be where you are nowadays? Do all your customers, and your customers’ customers know how good your wines are and the efforts you have made? Has any media informed about it? Are you satisfied with the way they did it? Do you think the national and the international market know everything about your wines and your winery? Do you do everything possible to make a difference in comparison to your competitors?  

If the answer to all these questions is positive, congratulations. If it is not, what if you take advantage of the Social Media in order to promote your work and your product?

Do you need further reasons to join Social Media? The reasons are countless, but only for this I would recommend to enter a Winery into Social Media. Because we don’t know if anyone will tell everyone about us, but we know no one could tell it the way we do.

This post in Spanish: Necesito jugar más finales como ésta. Cuenta tu historia a través de Social Media

This image is from: as.com

I arranged to meet Francisco to see his Winery. We were supposed to meet at 12:30, but a series of unexpected events postponed my arrival. Francisco regretted we would not have the chance to visit his vineyards, which he believes are the key of his business. So we only visited the winery.

I finally reached the Ruiz Jiménez Winery. Francisco has very clear ideas. He started his business 17 years ago, and he concentrated his efforts on organic wine. Ever since his business has not stopped growing at a minimum rate of 10% every year. How many wineries can say that in 2009 and 2010?

He works a lot. In his words I can sense the confidence of an experienced person who knows for sure the way to continue growing at this pace. He is a person who must be taken into account in the world of organic wine production in Spain. There are two matters he tries to excuse himself for –not being able to attend every single fair or event he is invited to, and not taking advantage of new technologies such as the Internet. He said he does not want to be known for the term “organic”, but for the quality of his products, which are indeed organic.  

Regarding the Internet, he recognizes he should have more and better presence on the net, but he wants to do it in a global and professional way.

Francisco started 17 years ago as part of a cooperative. However, five years later he decided to quit and start his own business. During these years, Francisco has built up a close relationship with his customers in different parts of the world. 95% of his sales are made abroad. At this point, visiting fairs implies meeting new customers or consolidating the relationship with old clients.

He showed me his premises, where there is a special place for tasting at the barrels area. In our way, once more he regrets I cannot visit his vineyard –the very essence of his success. It is there where the “super tasting” takes place. I could see all the awards his wines have been given since the beginning of his business, all displayed in a very original manner on the barrels. And then, Francisco added –I know we should be on the Internet… but I don’t have time”.

I visited his website where the business they perform is briefly presented and where the pictures of his vineyards represent a core part. The vineyards are simply breathtaking. I hope it is clear through these lines that I deeply admire the trading tasks he has carried out in person, his production of very-high-quality wine, and his outstanding results. However, there will be customers, or his customers’ customers willing to know more about his winery and his wines, and it would be very helpful that he could have his own voice in the “great conversations” taking place in the world of wine.

 I hope I have faithfully express the idea that Francisco’s Winery has thousands of wonderful stories to tell, and that his sales would increase if he shared such stories through the internet (such are the advantages of Social Media).

The products sold and traded at his winery are Valcaliente Crianza, Valcaliente Reserva and Perseus Joven 

See you soon, Francisco. I wouldn’t miss your vineyards for the world.

This post in Spanish: Vino ecológico en Rioja. Viñedos Ruiz Jiménez 

I have just read the post “Repsol Guide reaches 50,000 fans in Facebook”. This certainly proves the success this Guide has gained in Social Media.

 I recommend you all to read it very carefully and visit all the links it offers, as it may be seen as a masterpiece on how a brand can make its way in the Internet through Social Media.

What does success mean for the Repsol Guide? I guess success means gaining more and more Internet users accessing their web page when organizing their trips, searching for accommodations, or choosing restaurants.

 In a different stage, it also means attracting Facebook fans to participate in the Guide’s suggestions.

In my opinion, the Repsol Guide has found the best way to keep their paper-format guide alive. I am completely sure the sales of the guide have not gone done, but increased. This is certainly a lesson to be learnt by the rest of media written in paper, although I guess the situation is different if compared to general information newspapers.

I feel the Repsol Guide has understood it is difficult to stem the tide. It must be the user himself the one deciding whether he prefers written or digital information. I believe the profile of both types of information is totally different, although changes are expected in the future.

The Repsol Guide offers users the possibility to reach interesting information that could be once checked in the written version, although now it is accessible in a more efficient and enriched manner; that is to say, in a more internet-like way.

The Repsol Guide website has the same type of problems any website has. You may access fantastic content, but users will not surf your website just because you offer loads of information and services. People don’t have time to surf the net, or they simply don’t want to. When visiting a website, we just consult the info we are looking for. People need to see a whole, piece by piece. Most people are not interested in the Repsol Guide in the whole, as they are just looking for specific information. There is so much high-quality content to visit that it is impossible to check everything. Users often check the links they have been recommended. This is what Social Media are all about. Forget about Internet searchers. People use other people they trust to filter the things they are really interested in. The Repsol Guide shows different proposals and games to prove how useful and interesting their contents are.

The Repsol Guide is becoming a referent in the blogosphere as it has slowly and quietly got into this world, trying to understand how this environment works, and adapting to it by encouraging bloggers participation.   

 As a result, it is not a surprise they get more benefits than Movistar or El Corte Inglés.

One of the most interesting things I have experienced in the world of wines was that in 2005 a man called Hugh McLeod, who worked in a small winery in South Africa called Stormhoek, sent a bottle of wine to all French and English bloggers who could prove they had been participating in his blog for at least three months. The results were impressive. This is what I call understanding the essence of the Blogosphere.

I believe guiarepsol.com understands and handles the blogosphere nowadays in Spain the way Hugh did back in 2005 with magnificent results.  

Congratulations.

This post in Spanish: Guía Repsol. Dar a conocer los contenidos y fidelizar con Social Media.

Yet another surprise! This time my friend Fabio Bartolomei from Vinos Ambiz recommended that I visit  Gosálvez Ortí Winery, which is near Madrid and makes organic wine. Fabio was sure that I’d like it.

I arrive at Pozuelo del Rey, I stop right in the centre of the village and look around for the winery; a good omen – it’s right in front of me!

I go in and meet Carlos, the owner, who greets me heartily. His wife Estrella appears too.

Carlos and Estrella are an extremely interesting couple, for reasons that I’ll explain below.

Carlos shows me round the winery, which is in a rather small building where the use of the space has been optimized totally.

I get the impression that he’s very methodical, disciplined and a perfectionist. As he talks I can percieve the great passion he has for his work, and in doing things strictly in accordance with his principles and beliefs. He is also very good at expaining his ideas. Carlos decided to drastically change his lifestyle when he was 50. He wanted to run a winery. He was lucky to have a wife who supported him and even though she didn’t know much about wine, she took care of other important aspects of the business. They didn’t draw up a business plan; they just wanted to run a winery. Carlos then did a Masters in Oenology. At that age, when you do something, you do it properly. And what Carlos did during the course, apart from learning a lot about viticulture and wine, was to make a lot of friends and contacts in the wine world. The next step was to make some wine in a friend’s winery, and it turned out very well.

They then went to Tuscany to get to know the small local wineries, and they were over the moon! They could see first hand what they hoped their future winery would be like. They came back to Spain more eager to start than ever.

There’s a passage in “The Alchemist” by Coelho that says: “When you want something, the whole universe conspires so you can get it“. When Carlos talks, there’s a skarkle in his eyes that says just that.

They started with nothing in 1993. It took them a long time to find a place for the winery. Eventually they found a building of 120 m2 and they calculated that all the equipment could fit. And there was a second building close to the winery where they made a wine emporium.

Walking through the winery with Carlos I can see that the installations fit in perfectly with the story he’s telling me. His ecological philosophy is present in every word. This implies a very restrictive use of products to protect the vines.

Carlos says that given Madrid’s climate it would be a crime not grow grapes organically. Back then people told him that he would soon change his mind; but he hasn’t. Working organically means that you have less resources to work with to control the grape-growing and wine-making processes. It means that you are more at the mercy of nature, and that you have to work very carefully with the resources you have available to you. It also means that the characteristics of the wine will vary depending on the climate in a given year. As Carlos says, “You have to let nature express herself”. More inportant than what he says is how he says it. In 1992 he was 50 years old and he says that now he’s an old man, but standing in front of me I only see a man in the prime of life working (and succeeding) on his life project.

I fire questions at him and he replies to all of them though sometimes he refers me to Estrella. I start to realize at that moment what a great team they make. Carlos says, “This project would never have worked without Estrella”. He said it with great satisfaction, and later I would find out that it is absolutely true. He with great passion and strength, she supporting with her feet firmly planted in the ground.

Next I talk to Estrella. She is the same but different. Different but the same.

Carlos is the mind, perfection, detail, passion. Estrella is the ideal companion who not only follows her husband’s dream, but who realizes that if she doesn’t pull her weight and concentrate on the areas that Carlos doesn’t understand, then the project will fail. They invested everything they had and more in their project. So she learned about wine when before she wasn’t too interested. And she does the administration, and marketing and sales of the wine they make.

In my opinion they are an extraordinary team.

Estrella then takes me to their wine emporium, which is just 100 yds from the winery. From the outside the building is quite normal, but as you step through the door, you can tell that you’re going to see something special. And it is. There are three floors, all decorated exquisitely.

Natasha, an American woman with a good background in wine, is also part of the team; she helps them with tastings and sales. I didn’t get to meet her this time but hope to do so in the future.

First I taste a lovely white wine. I looked for it on their webpage but couldn’t see it. Then I taste a “Mayrit” (which is ‘Madrid’ in old Spanish). Tempranillo, Shiraz, 5 months in oak. This wine was chosen by the national Japanese Airline as their recomended wine in first class.

Next, a Qubél Nature, a crianza, and the story of how they made this wine could be covered in several posts! 11 months in oak, 2002. Even though Qubél is an organic wine, they don’t promote it as such. They prefer to focus on the quality, and then in addition mention that it’s also organic. Does estrella know about wine? Lots. And about marketing? Even more!

Lastly, I try a young wine, that Carlos mentioned earlier. This is new line of wines, as the winery is adapting to the era of recession that we are currently living through. So they have made a cheaper wine without diminishing the quality. They only made a small quantity this year, but in view of the demand they had for it, they will almost certainly make more next year. I figured that they are very pleased with this wine, as they insisted that I taste it last. And they are right to be pleased with it. Even if it has not been in contact with oak, it’s a perfectly acceptable young wine. If this year has been a success for them, next year will be even more successful.

They tell me that the Hotel Ritz in Madrid includes a visit to their winery as part pf their recommended tours: Hotel Ritz Gourmet & Wine Tour

I’m sure that hotel Ritz and JAL enjoyed a similar experience in their winery as I just did.

I feel that in this post I’ve expressed less than I actually perceived. I suppose that’s inevitable. I’d just like to say that my visit to that winery was an extraordinary experience, and I recommend everyone to go too. Word-of-mouth works wonders and I can understand why the clients of Gosálvez Ortí Winery chose them as suppliers. I believe that once a client has been hooked, he hooked for life – by the quality of the wine, the service, the people and the underlying philosophy.

You can see much more information on their webpage: http://www.qubel.com/.

Hope to see you again soon, Carlos and Estrella. I had a great time with you.

This post in Spanish: Turismo enológico y vino ecológico en Madrid. Bodegas y Viñedos Gosálvez Ortí

It is a commonplace to talk about making decisions in uncertain times.

I am currently reading “Chaotics” by Philip Kotler. Last Monday I attended the conference given at “The Monday Reading Club” (TMRC) organized by Fnac in Madrid the first Monday of every month. This time the book we talked about was “The Black Swan”.

One of the speakers present at the conference was José de la Peña. José is a very professional person, who prepares his presentations in depth and who is a great speaker. According to the TMRC format, José’s task at the meeting was to present a summary of the “The Black Swan” and draw conclusions about it.

I could not buy the book then, but bearing in mind José presented it in such a didactic way, I felt as if I had already read it after listening to his speech. I will read it; I swear.

The following are the conclusions José drew from the book:

- We are going through uncertain times, which seem to be lasting and indefinite. The more time goes by, the more such uncertainty seems to increase.

- Human beings are incredibly bad at predicting the future.

- How can we make decisions in such uncertain times?

The book is called “The Black Swan” because it was believed there were only white swans in the world, until Australia was discovered, and the first black swans were seen.

The expression “black swan” refers to unusual and unexpected events. Some examples of black swans are the beginning of the First World War, the Great Crash in 1929, and the 9-11 terrorist attack against the Twin Towers.

Another example José gave to us was that of the turkey carefully fed and loved, ignoring his fate for next Christmas.

The speaker also said that in difficult times it is not convenient to hop on every train passing, because there are many of them, all heading to many different destinations.

The need to control everything and the consequences of trying to have influence in the facts happening around us have been perfectly shown at the Coen brothers film “Burn After Reading”.

There is a sentence summarizing the entire essence of the film. An important CIA officer gives the following order to a subordinate in a chaotic moment –”All right. Report back when, um, I don’t know. When it makes sense”.

The following are my thoughts after listening to José’s words:

1) The fact the World is unpredictable does not mean decisions should not be made. We must act, and we must certainly do it faster than before.

2) Rationalizing things may be an extremely difficult task, which may not always be performed given the need to provide rapid response. It doesn’t matter the amount of information we may have, as it will not necessarily guarantee the probability to succeed is higher. In addition, when rationalizing, we tend to be more subjective and to look for specific information elements helping us to reaffirm our beliefs.

3) We must have a try and make mistakes. We must learn from our mistakes.

4) Let’s be more tactic rather than more strategic. We must know in which direction we are moving and think about the amount of resources we may need. We must make a difference between trend and fashion.

5) If we make many decisions, the incidence of our mistakes is much lower. If we make the right decision, we walk forward. If we don’t, we learn a lot.

6) The most important thing is that changes arise while we are walking having all five senses placed on the things happening around us.

7) Let’s use our intuitive intelligence trying to adapt it to our principles –this is called “Heart Logics”.

In his summary, José talked about the main characteristics of discoverers, and their ability to keep their eyes and ears open to understand what’s before them. As an example, José explained that the discovery of penicillin by Fleming was the result of two factors –coincidence and Fleming’s ability to understand what was going on in front of his eyes. 

He also shared a sentence from the TV show Redes presented by Punset –Childhood is the R&D of human beings. Adulthood represents the marketing to sell what you have created.

In these times we are living, we must try to go back to childhood. Experience and do not be scared of making mistakes. If you fall down, stand up and start again. This is basically the “forward-walkism” I have talked about in other posts.

Is this somehow related to what José told us? If José read these lines, he would probably think it is not. But I swear all my thoughts are the result of José’s words plus my own opinion.

Any comments? I am open to read your opinions and learn from them. I’ll try to continue offering you the knowledge I acquire. 

Go “forward-walkers”, go! 

This post in Spanish: Decidir en tiempos de incertidumbre

Related posts: Howard Hughes was a New Technology Guru.

The entrance to the winery is really nice. There’s nothing like a winery set in the middle of its vineyards. That alone says something about the winery.

Bodegas Marqués de Vargas is in an area called “Los 3 Marqueses”, namely Marqués de Murrieta, Marqués de Vargas and Marqués de Romeral.

The winery group owns another two wineries: Bodegas y Viñedos Conde de San Cristóbal (in Peñafiel, Ribera de Duero), and Bodega Pazo de San Mauro in Galicia.

Into the building; it’s an elegant building and very tastefully decorated. The walls are covered by paintings of the different owners of the winery since 1840, ie 170 years ago when the eighth Marqués de Vargas began making wine! The winery has passed down from father to son until today, when it’s owned by the thirteenth marquess, Pelayo de la Mata. The winery building in which I’m standing now was built in 1989.

From the main hall of the winery you can see straight into the barrel room through glass panels. The stained glass and the illumination combine to create a spectacular effect.

Eva then takes me to the vineyards. The garden through which we walk is very well cared for. Each blade of grass of the lawn has been mown to the millimeter. The impression is one of elegance, class, good taste, quality, perfectionism.
 

The winery makes three types of products: Marqués de Vargas Reserva, Marqués de Vargas Reserva Privada and Hacienda Prado Lagar. The latter two are only made in years when the grapes are of an exceptional quality.

We approach the vineyard; the vines are exuberant.

The winery exclusively uses grapes from its own vineyards. They have 70 hectares and the vines are mostly between 40 and 50 years old approximately.

At Marqués de Vargas they are focused on producing a very high quality product, even though the cost of doing so is significant. Eva tells me that the most important quality control process starts in the vineyard. Generally they only harvest about 4,000 to 4,500 kg per hectare, as opposed to the 6,500 kg permitted by the Denominación de Origen.

During the year they do many different jobs in the vineyard to assure themselves of the quality of the grapes. The main activities are: pruning in winter, green pruning in may and cluster thinning in August.

The 70 hectares are divided into 16 different plots, and are further subdivided by varieties, including Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha. The harvesting is done by hand using 15 kg crates.

In the grape reception area of the winery we saw the hoppers and tanks. They were spotlessly clean. The installations in general were perfect for extracting quality must.

Eva told me that they were the first winery to use a hydraulic cap-puncher, a 3-ton machine that punches down the cap efficiently so as to extract the optimum amount of colour and aromas. The yeasts they use are the natural ones from the vineyard.

In the barrel room, they have over 2,500 barrels, though usually they have around 3,000.

We walk along an overhead walkway where we can get an ‘aerial’ view of the winery, which with the lighting makes the room look really attractive.

They have three types of oak: French, American and Russian. Marqués de Vargas was also a pioneer in the use of Russian oak.

All their wines have rated over 90 points on the Parker scale. They make about 300,000 bottles of Marqués de Vargas Reserva, about 45,000 bottles of Marqués de Vargas Reserva Privada and 3.000 bottles of Hacienda Prado Lagar.

Lastly, we go to the tasting room. Not very large but very tastefully decorated, and we taste a  Marqués de Vargas Reserva Reserva 2005.

Delicious.

This was a very agreeable visit where I was able to see a truly spectacular winery, elegant and with lots of style and personality. Just like the wines.

This post in Spanish: Visita a Bodegas Marqués de Vargas

The more wineries I visit, the more I enjoy what I do. The wine sector is full of surprises –I rarely feel disappointed, and of course, this was not an exception. I told the owners of Paternina that I wanted to visit their Winery and they invited me to spend some time at their premises in Ollauri. The truth be said, although their great Winery is located in Haro, and it  represents the efficiency while Ollauri´s recalls charm.

The Winery is located in a typical village of La Rioja Region. When I got there, I started wandering around the village but I could not find the Winery. This was one of the surprises I was about to have during my visit. I finally saw a young lady who stood up as I approached her who said hello to me. She was Beatriz, the person who would spend the day with me –a young nice, gentle and friendly woman, with whom I had very interesting conversations.

 We started our visit by entering a very elegant room, which seemed to be used for company events. On the walls we could see all labels framed hanging. The Winery has been working since 1896, and you can feel the passing of time in the environment. We immediately went down to the winery.

During our visit, we went from 18 meters depth to 40, which took us to an exit located two streets far from the entrance. 

This was the original Paternina Winery, but there was a moment back in time it was not large enough and they had to move to Haro in order to enlarge the business.

This is the Winery where Conde de los Andes Reserve and Grand Reserve age, as it is the place with the best conditions –constant temperature (11 degrees), absence of noise, and not much light; all these essential characteristics for wine ageing.

The product is not prepared until it is ordered and managed in Haro.

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While walking we found a couple of wine presses –one of them is about 240 years old– which were in perfect conditions.

We started going down, down and down… there were many steps before us.

I have seen other underground wineries, but this one is impressive because there is a huge amount of product ageing perfectly piled.

 As you move on, it is possible to see how hard and expensive it must be to manage their working system, which undoubtedly should be reflected in the price. (Surprisingly as it may seem, the price of their products is not too high).

Then Beatriz showed me the tanks where wine is fermented –one of such tanks is being used as the restaurant counter, which is located right above the winery. I saw the restaurant afterwards, and I can say it was as amazing as the Winery.

The Winery was founded in 1896, but the caves are more than 400 years old. Such caves were excavated by Galician quarrymen while they were not working in the field. If you look carefully at the rocks, it is possible to imagine how hard it was to complete such works. I guess those men were simply different from today’s.

Beatriz told me that the product Federico Paternina Banda Azul (Crianza) is a homage to those Galician men who worked there. For Reserve, they use the Banda Roja, which is sold in Spain under the brand Viña Abial. 

Bottles used to be transported by wheelbarrows down the stairs we had just walked through, but this was tremendously difficult and many bottles resulted broken. Could any of them really reach its destination unbroken? (See the staircase)

Beatriz showed me the Conde de los Andes White Reserve. This wine is only produced after excellent vintages, such as 74, 82, 95 and 2001, which is the one currently being sold. It is an amazing experience to see how humidity (between 75 and 82%) makes mould grow on the bottles.

We walked around the barrels where the wine was ageing. These barrels are huge, and the idea that coopers had to manufacture them inside the winery comes to my mind. In this case, the “rule of thumb” worked perfectly.

 We saw the breathtaking wine storage room devoted to Mr Marcos Eguizábal (the owner of the Winery who died last year), where there are more than 100,000 bottles. It is the largest room in the Winery. Before the Haro enlargement, there were barrels there too, which were transported to the upper floor every six months for all cyclic works. It is still possible to see the marks of the ropes used to lift the over-200-kilo barrels. It must have been impressive to see such a hard task!

 As we moved on, Beatriz showed me a vine over 200 years old. It seems it was planted before the vine pest. This two-meter-tall tree is so alive that it seems it wants to talk. Simply impressive. 

Then we saw some huge black-and-white pictures taken in the 1920’s or 1930’s. They are fantastic and they show the visitor the way works were performed in the Winery at that time. We can see one of the employees working while holding a cigarette in his hand. Times were different then.

Our visit then led us to the cages area, where works may be performed much more easily as machines may enter the premises.

And we saw the barrels. The are only 50 of them which are perceptive, according to the requirements of the Designation of Origin (DO). There were 3,000 barrels before they moved to Haro.

Then Beatriz presented me the Graciela wine, and told me the beautiful story behind it. Before us, we have a white, a crianza and a semi-sweet wine.

After that, I am taken to the place where vintage wines are stored. This area is understandably called the “Sistine Chapel”.

Then we moved to the wine collection and I tasted the Graciela and a red Conde de los Andes reserve wine from 2004. After the walk, I felt like being on cloud number nine while tasting such amazing products. Is there any better way to taste wine right after having seen all the process preceding such a great result?

At this Winery, they receive around 10,000 visitors every year, although they are trying to get more company events or marriage celebrations to be held at their premises, as they bring in better returns in comparison to small tourist groups.

And then they showed me the restaurant. The counter is simply amazing, and the restaurant in the whole is very stylish and elegant. They say the average price per person is 35/40 euro. I think it is a good value for money.

I recommend everyone to visit this Winery, as I am sure it will be an extraordinary experience.

 Paternina. Conde de los Andes. Another great one. Chapeau.

 This post in Spanish: Visita a Bodega Conde de los Andes de Paternina